Patna, Jan. 29: Academics and researchers participated in a two-day seminar organised by Bihar Teacher Educators’ Association at AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies today.
The theme of the seminar was “Challenges of education in the 21st century”.
The seminar was aimed to give a platform to teachers and researchers express their views on the issues and challenges related to teaching.
Speakers opined that education should not remain confined to just job orientation, but the system should be structured in such a way that it paves the way of development of society.
Speakers at the seminar said teachers require proper training, workshops and seminars to learn the latest methods of learning so that the students are groomed to suit the needs of industry, society and are able to compete with others.
Vijay Prakash, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and also an educationist, said that preparing acts or provisions pertaining to education should not only be the priority but efforts should also be made to implement them properly.
Prakash said: “There has been huge hullabaloo after the Union government enacted the Right to Education (RTE), making education compulsory for all children till the age of 14, but the real outcome of the RTE will come when it is implemented in a proper way.”
Prakash cited findings of a survey conducted by an educational institution and said a survey was conducted on the life of beggars in Patna and it was found that even graduates were earning a livelihood by begging. Despite being graduates they were unable to find jobs.
The IAS officer added that he was concerned over three incidents of suicide in Patna in the past few days. He said the present education system is flawed as the focus of education is job oriented and students in a bid to compete with others suffer from depression.
The seminar was attended by former vice-chancellors of various universities including Samsad Hussain, former vice-chancellor of Magadh University, Ramji Singh, retired principal, Patna College, D.M. Diwakar, director AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies. The speakers also discussed the challenges faced by education in the 21st century.
Samsad Hussain said: “The central government as well as state government implements various schemes and programmes to improve education but these planning should be result oriented within a set time frame for achieving those goals.”
Hussain also stressed strengthening girls’ education and adult education. He added that for these, counselling of teachers is required.
Teachers should not have an impression that their work is confined to just teaching but priority should also be given to learning as well.
The Bihar Teacher Educators’ Association also felicitated teachers from across the country who had come to attend the seminar.
